Warhammer: Start with a dog.

Chapter 349 What did those demons do to you?

Geratos first joined the Black Templars as a new blood more than two centuries ago. After fighting for the God-Emperor in this dark galaxy for nearly a century, he was honored to wear the skull mask, be trained as a spiritual mentor, and become a preacher of the Emperor's wrath in the Eternal Crusade.

Nearly a century had passed since he met Caleb, watching this enthusiastic monk join the Brotherhood of the Sword with difficulty, until he became the lord of the castle and led the expedition company on the Inevitable Retribution, preparing to rendezvous with the Black Templar fleet where the Eternal Crusade was located, or to see if he could support the Helsreach Crusade launched by the hermit-arch Grimaldus on Armageddon.

The scarlet energy surging out from behind the torn curtain was like a tide of pus and blood from a rotting dark body, sweeping the Inevitable Retribution, which was currently sailing in the warp, into supernatural waves and fog, disrupting not only space but also time.

After a series of terrifying moments, they rushed back into the real universe before Geller's Field was shattered, and then found that the entire ship and its crew had been thrown across Armageddon, across the Great Rift, and across the entire star field, appearing on the edge of the Calixis Sector.

At first, they were frustrated that they might have completely missed the Halsrich Expedition, so much so that they eagerly and instead of following the rules came to Port Wandering and landed in person to request supplies - now it seems that everything is the will of the God-Emperor, and after meeting the destiny of His eternal gaze and guidance, all members of the Inevitable Retribution now have their own expedition - they named it the "Saint's Redemption Expedition", and all members have been awarded the honor of becoming the Emperor's champions.

Everyone has a divine calling.

As a member of the Brotherhood of Priests, Geratos understood more clearly than other members: this expedition would undoubtedly leave most or all of them here forever, and he would not be the only one who died in this battle. And this expedition they participated in would be an extremely important page even in the history of the Human Empire.

With such awareness, he gently moved the black armor that had just been maintained by the technical sergeants and servitors on his way to the room where the Demon Lord and Holy Dorn were. His genetically enhanced olfactory organs could smell the ink on the parchment that covered the front and back of the power armor, the red wax scent on the purity mark, the holy oil on the weapons that had just been maintained, and the sweat odor on the servants' skin when they were installing the power armor for him.

Geratos wore a bone-white robe over his black armor. He slightly tightened his artificial muscles, and the neural interface on the black shell sent a familiar shock pulse. The servo motor joints were operating well. He took a deep breath, put aside the glory of every past expedition and victory written on the parchment, and strode forward.

"I am Geratos of the Black Templar. I come for the Suffering Saint and I am here to accept any challenge of fate!"

The electronic eyes of the two Iron Ring Mechas guarding the door flashed a few times at the priest, and with a confirmation beep, these abominable creatures made way for him, leaving a gap large enough for an Astartes to pass through.

With the sound of the airtight lock, the door slid open smoothly to the side.

All the sounds, sights, smells and sights in the room came towards Geratos.

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Six hours later, when Brother Atreus had already taken the other two to Wandering Port to begin their journey of atonement, Lord Caleb received a notification from the Desert Ark.

"Black Templar? Come and pick up your priest."

An ominous premonition immediately enveloped the castle lord's heart like a haze.

He waited in the hangar of the Necessary Retribution with his pharmacist brothers. Then he received a Geratos who he had never thought he would see like this.

A priest who was almost out of his mind, with no reaction to the outside world except for mumbling confession scriptures, and was exhausted.

"By the throne of the God-Emperor!" cried Caleb. "What have those devils done to you, my brother!"

Geratos was not wearing a helmet, so everyone could see that the priest's rich sapphire eyes, which were always filled with surging faith and fanatical anger, had now lost their former fierce brilliance. He looked at Caleb empty and blankly, as if his soul had been sucked out.

Finally, he moved, and then began to convulse, struggle, bounce and howl violently, like a mortal suffering from a severe epileptic seizure. Caleb could hardly hold down the mad Geratos until the other two monks came and held him down, and the pharmacist injected him with the maximum dose of sedative. Only then did Geratos get a moment of peace with an exhausted look.

Caleb gripped his weapon tightly, the ozone of the power field diffused in the air, but he had to be patient, patience was also a virtue of redemption and asceticism - the instructions that Holy Dorn had previously given to them through the projection line in the helmet under the guidance of the Demon Lord not to fight, exchange fire, provoke, etc. were still shining clearly on the edge of his retina.

"What happened to Geratos?! What happened?! What did you do to him?!"

The one who brought Geratos back to the Necessary Retribution was a warrior wearing fine Terminator armor... The emblem on the shoulder armor looked a bit like that of the Silver Skulls Chapter, but not exactly the same. Caleb intuitively thought that he should be a disguised Iron Warrior, but he was very different from the twisted and miserable Chaos traitors that Caleb had killed.

This particularly pale-skinned Astartes has neatly combed black hair, and thinly pigmented blue eyes dotted on a handsome face with very faint scars, making him look even more refined, elegant, deadly and dangerous in the silver Terminator armor, like a well-maintained exquisite high-tech firearm, with a cold and deadly beauty. The ribbon on the Terminator's chest is even engraved with the name of the owner of the power armor: Ahlin, as is the custom of the Empire.

"My master asked me to tell you that he is fine." The heretic spoke, his voice was surprisingly normal, a soft and pleasant baritone that he had practiced deliberately, very suitable for announcing the menu at a fancy banquet or reading bedtime books to the master. "He may have just suffered a big shock in a short period of time, which caused a shutdown. It is more likely that his psychic sensitivity is much higher than he actually thinks."

"You call this no big deal? Do you know how pure and strong Geratos's faith and soul are?!"

The heretic Astartes opposite seemed to seriously consider how to answer Caleb.

"Your pastor actually... at first I must say that he has done a pretty good job to some extent. But there is one thing I am not sure about, so I sent him back specially to ask you by the way, can your eyes see something that others cannot see? Or feel something that others cannot feel? Is it just him? Or do you all do this?"

Caleb looked back warily into the other's pale ice-blue eyes, which stared back at him without fear or emotion.

Finally, the unexpected visitor nodded.

"I see."

(End of this chapter)